Rotary engines are well known and many types of rotary engines have been proposed and developed. In each case the rotary engine includes a rotor (or piston) which rotates about an axis and may adopt some reciprocal motion as well. This is in contrast to a reciprocal piston engine which adopts reciprocal motion only.
Many rotary engines include a rotor which is eccentrically mounted relative to a shaft. The eccentric motion assists in defining the various combustion chambers to allow the engine to operate. A disadvantage with these engines is that the eccentric rotor results in dynamic imbalances being formed in the engine.
Rotary engines like other internal combustion engines require air to be directed to a combustion chamber and exhaust gases to be directed from the combustion chamber. Many rotary engines utilise a conventional valve system where at least one pair of valves locate in each combustion chamber, one valve allowing air to pass into the chamber and a second valve functioning to allow exhaust gases to pass from the chamber. As a rotary engine includes a number of combustion chambers, a large number of valves are required. These valves are usually coupled to respective manifolds and the whole arrangement renders the engine bulky, complex and expensive to manufacture.
Various attempts have been made to improve on the above designs. International patent application WO 86/02698 describes a rotary two-stroke internal combustion engine having a combination of an eccentrically-supported rotor and a number of pistons. The rotor is provided with passageways to allow a combustible gas mixture to enter the combustion chamber from a compression cylinder. Upper portions or the cylinder in which the piston slides include a seal to define various combustion chambers.
Australian patent 550117 describes an orbital engine having a rotor, the rotor including passageways extending therethrough. The passageways function to temporarily store compressed air and to transfer the compressed air rearward of the veins.
Australian patent 592750 discloses a rotary internal combustion engine having a number of hollow vanes which compress air and release air into the combustion chamber. The rotor itself is not provided with passageways.
Australian patent application 40430/78 discloses a system for maximising power from rotary engines. One of the rotary stages comprises a rotor having a passageway extending therethrough. The passageway does not function to feed combustible gases or exhaust combustion gases from the combustion chamber.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,883,276 discloses a rotary internal combustion engine having a rotor mounted on an eccentric shaft within a housing. The housing does not include sliding vanes but instead includes dish-like depressions to accommodate to lobes of the eccentrically-mounted rotor. Fuel enters through the eccentric shaft and exhaust gases are exhausted through ducts in the side housing.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,712,274 discloses a circular rotor mounted in a circular housing. The rotor and housing include recessed portion to form combustion chambers. Fuel enters the combustion chamber through a passageway in the rotor while exhaust gases leave the combustion chamber through passageways extending through cylindrical housing.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,693,600 discloses a rotor eccentrically mounted in a cylindrical housing. Combustion gases flow through a spiral rotor duct and the rotor is driven by the combined action of the jet air orifice, the expansion of the fluid in the combustion chamber and the torque component of tile spiral duct. Exhaust gases are exhausted directly from the cylindrical housing.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,894,519 discloses a rotary combustion engine having an oval rotor within a cylindrical housing. A plurality of vanes are provided to define separate combustion chambers. The rotor is mounted to a shaft which extends through side walls of the cylindrical chamber. Air and fuel enter through one end of the hollow shaft and through passageways in the rotor body to the combustion chamber. Exhaust gases flow from the combustion chamber through a suitable passageway in the rotor body and through the other end of the hollow shaft. The shaft is partitioned into two main segments, one to allow exhaust gases to flow out one end of the shaft and the other to allow the air-fuel mixture to flow into the other end of the shaft. The air-fuel mixture is further separated by a longitudinal partition. In this arrangement, both the air and the exhaust flow through the hollow shaft making it difficult to make one end of the shaft an output shaft for coupling with a gearbox, clutch, fly wheel or like member.
It is an object of the invention to provide a rotary engine which may overcome the above-mentioned disadvantages.
It is a further-object of the invention to provide a rotary engine wherein air and exhaust gases can flow to and from a combustion chamber through pathways in the rotor body while allowing provision of an output shaft to allow the engine to be coupled to a fly wheel, gearbox or like member.